Reality Sets In

Well..... it looks like the wheels are starting to come loose and may fall off the wagon. While the Isles certainly have been bitten by the injury bug - they have also been bitten by the "we may not be as talented as we first appeared" bug. Newest casualty - Jurcina. Looks like Schremp may be back soon and Hunter returned to the line-up, but I don't think this is enough.

When the season started, I stated that I did not believe the Isles acquired enough scoring during the off-season. It looks like I may be right. Here are some not-too-impressive stats:

• Isles have scored more than 3 goals in a game in only 3 of their 11 games.
• They only have 8 goals in their last 4 games -- you won't win averaging 2 goals a game.
• They have scored only 1 goal in a game 3 times this season and in 2 other games they only got 2 goals. So - in half their games, they have scored 2 goals or less.
• They have lost 4 in a row and are now under .500.
• Their top three point scorers actually only have 2 goals each.
• With the exception of Moulson, Comeau & Tavares, no one on the team has more than 2 goals.
• While he wasn't over-matched, it was obvious Niederreiter was not going to be a repeat of Tavares (or Bailey for that matter) and it was the right move to send him back to juniors.
• Hunter, Sim, and Weight have been mostly invisible and I really don't think Parenteau and Grabner are the solution.
• Bailey and Moulson have cooled off in the last half-dozen games.

Maybe things improve when Schremp & Okposo come back. But in reality, I don't think you can expect Schremp to make a huge impact and Okposo, when he returns, will be coming off shoulder surgery and will need some time to get his timing and legs back.

What does this all mean? I think it means Isles fans need to be prepared for more of what we've seen in the last 4 games and less of what we saw in the first 5. It's going to be a long season.